Avoid the Pitfalls of a Bad Hire With the Hiring Manager Intake

A job req opens that needs to be filled ASAP and your hiring manager is swamped with their typical work duties. Amidst the chaos, they send you over a job description that was used to hire for the same position previously and tell you to get going.

Don’t Fall Victim to Reactive Recruiting

Does the above scenario sound familiar? In working with thousands of employers, we see it time and time again- and people wonder why they fall victim to the costs of a bad hire! Strong communication between recruiters and hiring managers is the #1 indicator of successful hiring. But how can you facilitate this communication and define a clear recruiting strategy without interrupting everyone’s busy work schedules?

Note: There is some contention around what this form should be called. Our thoughts- who cares what it’s called! The fact is that you need an efficient way to strategize with your hiring managers. For the sake of practicality, in this post we call it an intake form.

Key Topics Covered in the Hiring Manager Intake Form

Timeline for hire

Scope and expectations for the role

The ideal candidate profile

Location

Compensation

Why candidates should be excited about this role

What Is the Hiring Manager Intake Form?

The hiring manager intake form is a questionnaire that provides you with a simple and structured methodology for keeping your hiring managers actively involved in the recruiting process. Think of it as your recruiting playbook, your checklist prior to takeoff, that will accomplish two goals:

Facilitate the conversation needed to scope the role and develop an ideal candidate profile.

Set expectations of you, your hiring manager, and the role that each of you will be held accountable for.

Benefits of the Hiring Manager Intake Form

Proactive Recruiting Is Easier Than Reactive Recruiting

As referred to in the opening scenario, when hiring, many companies fall into reactive recruiting practices. Recruiters pass through candidates based on the limited information that hiring managers have provided them. On the flip side, hiring managers assess each of these candidates against the next one, developing an ever-changing candidate criteria as they go.

Unfortunately, this process is completely backward and opens the door for bad hires, which will only end up wasting valuable time and money. You need to define the ideal candidate profile early on and lock down a hiring strategy so that you aren’t chasing a moving target.

Makes You Better at Selling the Job

The secret of every great salesman is a deep understanding of their product. In recruiting, your product is the job that you are hiring for. If you are knowledgeable about the position, this is evident in the conversations that you have with candidates and will allow you to tell a far more compelling story.

Furthermore, effectively communicating a role to candidates and answering any questions that they may have removes the doubt and perceived risk in their mind. By removing your candidate’s uncertainty, you are simultaneously removing your own uncertainty about whether or not they will accept a job offer. Everything has already been laid out on the table and you can get a fair read on how your candidate is feeling. After all, you don’t want to be left at the altar because of some last-minute doubts.

You Will Hire Better People

The goal is always to hire the best but how can you hire the best if you haven’t defined what a quality candidate is? Using the hiring manager intake form gives you a definitive candidate criteria so that you can be laser-focused in your search for that next great hire.

Your Hires Will Stay Longer

Having a comprehensive understanding of a given role means that you can present it to candidates accurately and with full transparency. You will be selling the actual role that the candidate will be filling, not performing some bait and switch after they sign on to do the job. This will increase retention rates because your new hires are self-selecting into the job. They aren’t being sold on a job that they won’t actually be doing.

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